Sunday, March 27, 2011

Mosaic Music Festival 2011 Feat. Razorback

It's bee a while since I last saw Razorback performed in Philippines. Seeing them in Singapore with their new line-up is surely exciting to watch. An amalgamation of Razorback and Wolfgang members. Manuel Legarda is not new to most of the hard-rocking Pinoys. He is well recognized as the lead guitarist of rock / metal band Wolfgang and he's a very welcome addition to the new line-up of Razorback. They still rock hard, everything you'd expect from the band and more! I regularly go to Mosaic Music Festival every year especially when a favorite band is on their schedule. Usually I just go and listen but this time I really want to capture the rawness of the band so I took photos of them in action. You will definitely bang your head and move you feet to the classic songs like "Payaso" and "Giyang" - songs from the LA-105 FM era. Razorback just never fails to ROCK!!!

Razorback Live & Raw

The lighting is not that bad considering it's a free concert. I had the chance to get near the stage to shoot them with my trusted Nikon D700 equipped with a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G VRII lens - a great combo for concert photography. It's important to know when to use a tele-zoom or a wide-angle lens (e.i. Nikon 16-35mm f4G VR or Nikon 24-70mm f2.8G) on a concert. For me I use the wide to shoot the whole stage with all the band members in action, a wide worm's eye view or for crowd shots and the tele-zoom for tight (close to the action) individual shots. Timing is very important 'cause the lighting is constantly changing. If I need to travel light on a concert probably I'll just bring a fast (f1.4) fix prime lens but on this case I can shot whenever I please. I know that A flash would be helpful but be considerate to the band do not use flash photography on a rock/metal concert it's just not natural besides new camera bodies now a days are capable of performing in high ISO. Only use flash if the staff allows it (that I definitely doubt). I saw some people using a 70-200mm f2.8 lens still using flash. Not sure if their camera body is not capable of high ISO or they just don't know what to do. I will understand it if someone is using a kit lens with flash but a 70-200mm f2.8 on a hard rock concert with flash? Maybe it's just me I don't know. Utilize the light on the concert like I said earlier timing is important, move around to get the nice spot, what's the point of bringing your 24-70mm f2.8 or 70-200mm f2.8 lens if you just sit there. The bad thing is you'll just get the same angle of shot the whole time. Be more assertive, anticipate the situation, take control and don't forget to have a great time shooting.

All photos taken with Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G VRII except last photo with Nikon 16-35mm F4G VRII. No flash. You can view the complete series on My Flickr Photostream or My Deviantart Gallery. Any questions or suggestions you can email me at lordgyron @yahoo.com or krsigironella@gmail.com. Cheers!